Is Sean Dyche Really the Problem at Everton?

Some of our good victories at Goodison last season, the derby game, Chelsea etc were also peppered with huge slices of good fortune, some of that good fortune came about due to the players giving their all in those games. Saturday's performance wasn't up to that level and that's why Brighton ran out deserved winners.

Dyche is what it says on the tin, old-school, hard graft and run till you drop type football, but it's limited and it's becoming more limited with each passing season, many clubs now try and play a more progressive style some more successfully than others.

Notice how Spain in the Euros and yesterday Manchester City, have adapted their possession style to get the ball forward far more quickly than they used to, and both look all the better for it.

Adapt or die has always been a philosophy in football, and it's completely in Dyche's hands how he handles the rest of his time at Goodison, Everton won't sack him, unless results are so dire that they have to, but having a manager who's contract is running down isn't ideal.

Moshiri in his attempted sale of the club has been disastrous for Everton and that negative aspect obviously seeps into everybody connected to it, what we don't need is for the manager to lose interest or fail to recognise his own limitations, so far he's been just good enough to keep our heads above water, but we may need a little bit more if we are to survive this season.

If ever a set of supporters had a right to be upset at the way events unfolded, it was Everton fans. Everybody and his dog knew that the Williams v Mitoma contest was an accident waiting to happen, and it did.

I take into account the current financial restrictions happening at Goodison, but was it wise to spend £17m on a new centre half O'Brien wise, when we virtually had no fit fullbacks going into a new season?

Also, playing hoofball at home, with DCL chasing his own flick on's, and a slow ponderous Doucoure trying to play the No 10 role in support failed miserably.

It's bad enough playing that way with 11 player's on the pitch, it was pointless continuing the same tactics with 10 men. The long ball mode of football is simply outdated and awful to watch, no wonder there was only a couple of thousand left in the ground at fulltime.

Evertonian's arn't mugs, we stay to the end when the team is getting beat, but still playing OK, what we witnessed on Saturday, was largely influenced by a manager who was simply too cautious from the very start, playing a rookie 19 year old (but mobile) full back, was surely no more a risk than playing a 39 year old, who should never been given another contract deal.

Believe me Sean, the fans were upset as you, and for the majority, it was simply too much to endure, hence the mass exit.

It's probably best not to alienate the fans at this stage of the season.

I predicted he'd be sent off 3 days ago. He's done for pace so he'll foul. He's a walking card every week.

Ashley Williams played? I know you meant Ashley Young, but I was worried that I had far more to drink pre-game than I thought if the Welshman was in our back-line and I failed to notice. :)

If Textor does get his hands on Everton, will he be patient with Dyche or will he follow Crystal Palace's lead when they replaced Hodgson?

It's clearly left a mark on me.

I thought the crowd would have supported Dyche more if he had been brave and put Dixon out even if it failed it would have been an experience for him.

I think most fans are disgusted by the fact that Michael Keane, Holgate and Maupay are still around and part of the matchday squad.

We are running on empty if we have to rely on any of those three at any point this season let alone the opening home match. If Sd doesn't get that then he deserves the flack coming his way.

Yes, it would have been foolish to play a 19 year old kid at right back on Saturday, no more foolish than playing Young perhaps, but the rookie may never have recovered his confidence after the mauling he would undoubtedly have taken.

I'm not making excuses, some of Dyche's decision making is infuriating. However I think we need a new owner more desperately than a new manager.

They may have been stuffed 5 nil, they may have won convincingly...we'll never know.

What we do know, is that Ashley Young is completely finished and Michael Keane, who has barely played in the last 2 seasons, has no future at Goodison. Not one of us was surprised when Ashley got caught out and ended up getting sent off, he was liability last season and will be only worse this season. 39 Yr olds don't improve.

Dyche got it wrong on Saturday, imo, and I'm no fan of his but we certainly can't be thinking of replacing him so soon. Everyone knows we need stability and, on the pitch, we won 48 points last season and were comfortable in mid table. That's big progress compared to the last 2 seasons before it.

But Sean certainly doesn't help himself with his selections and poor comments regarding the fans. He took us on our longest winless run last season and EVERY home game and EVERY away allocation was sold out within minutes!!

He lost a few fans on Saturday and needs to win them back pretty quickly because it was a painful day all around.

I second those supporters who realize that the major problem at Everton is the owner plus the previous board. I cannot understand why he is giving exclusivity to an individual that cant become owner because of his involvement with another Premier League team, are there no other consortium's interested.

Maybe it's a perception thing - an anxiety issue watching Everton.

They hit the post, had another disallowed for narrow offside, it could have been 6 or 7

Re the pace, they had Mitoma on one side, Minteh on the other and Adingra coming on who is faster than the other 2. I think Dyche was hoping to get a goal from a free kick or corner then defend to the death for the other 89 minutes..

I really don't think Dyche is the problem. At least not in terms of results. 48 points last season with a very limited squad was a good return and if gets near that again I'll be pleased.

Conversations over style is maybe a different thing. Personally, whilst we recover from the astonishing level of financial mismanagement over the last 6 years, I don't mind sacrificing a bit of panache for pragmatism. Lampards ‘beautiful' football would have sent us down. But I don't attend many matches and I understand ticket holders desire to be entertained.

It's very early days for this season and whilst I'm not hugely optimistic for Spurs, I hope that after that we'll see stability mixed with a little more flair supplied by the likes of Ndiaye and Lindstrom.

But I would say it's a near impossible job. The squad is bereft of numbers, pace, goals and talent. It's a team that loses as soon as the team goes 1 nil down. A net spend of Eur 100m when the team was shite over the last 4 years tells you you're in trouble.

It's a depressing watch. Each season we seem to have fewer talented footballers, which is usually a recipe for relegation. His saving grace appears to grind out enough points to stay up.

It's early in the season, but you can only see some improvement once Branthwaite, Garner and Coleman get fit. Here's to October.

Ashley Young was a mistake in hindsight - we didn't have many other options.

Keane and Tarkowski were a mistake together. Not necessarily for the actual pairing as O Brien might need to build an understanding - but with the way we played. Playing 2 defenders as slow as these two mean that we need to defend deeper (especially with Young there). We can't defend deep and try to press like we did, the gaps between the defence and attack would be huge and would be exploited - especially without a midfielder sitting in front of the defence. We need pace at the back to be able to press like we were doing or we will always be vulnerable to a counter attack - trying to press with Keane, Young and Tarkowski at the back was a huge mistake.

At 1-0 the ref awarded us a pen for something that an hour later was perfectly fine for west ham but in our case dreamed too soft by the var official and not the guy standing 20 yards away. At 1-1 we are back in the game.

A mistake by Gana lead to the 2nd.

Young makes a schoolboy error and we end up with 10 men and 2-0 down with 20 mins to go.

Dyche isn't perfect but he deserves a bit more credit for what he has done over the last 2 seasons.

It won't be the last time this season that we get beaten at home.

Young, Keane and Doucoure the early season favourites for the whipping boy accolade.

Everton had lost the previous 2 season openers and we always had new faces awaiting their debut's as many clubs do and wonder why they weren't starters.

It's easy to blame the manager for his selection and tactics and I suppose now, we fans are not ready to excuse Dyche much longer.

He made some gaffs and in the end losing to a naff team like Brighton is very disappointing in a home opener in the manner that they did.

I watched the West Ham game yesterday and the manager there failed to introduce his new players until it was too late but we can't say in either case if the results would have been any different.

Certainly playing with ten men doesn't help.

It goes without saying that they need a good result at Spurs to help dispel the bad taste of this defeat so let's hope Dyche get's it right this time.

Dyche has to completely turn around our style of play if he wants to achieve more than just survival. I'm not sure he's the man to do it but he deserves a while yet to absorb the new lads. If he doesn't do that, he'll be gone by Christmas.

He hardly helped his survival prospects in Saturday by playing Young at right back.

As a final point, I thought Brighton were very good going forward but I do not rate their defence at all. Mid table team, no more.

And regards to pace in the team, my Burnley mates told me for years that they were the slowest team in the League by a country mile... surely this can't be coincidence?

And beyond Shankly, Clough, Busby, Mourinho, Ferguson (Aberdeen version), Kendall, I'm struggling to name managers who historically could have.

90% of clubs are looking for the miracle of converting water into wine. It's just that we appear more desperate than most — and our water is sewerage.

I agree: for the first 25 minutes, I thought Brighton were nervous and unsure and we looked odds-on for a win… but, if you can't score goals from open play, then you're not going to win many games. As Brighton grew in confidence, we wilted.

McNeil has got away with minimal criticism but, for me, he was the most anonymous player on the pitch — far worse than Ashley Young overall. I don't think he ever recovered from that injury last season.

No, it's not coincidence: we've got three of the same Burnley players in our team.

Perhaps it's Thelwell defining the recruitment rather than Dyche?

But I get the point — we have no pace at all.

I agree, it's not Dyche's fault that Maupay, Holgate and Keane are still stinking the gaff out. It's also very much a boardroom problem, we gave all three huge contracts way above their ability, and thus we have made it hard for them to be sold.

That is a spectacular fail. So many say "Ah, let's just sell Patterson," well, we overpaid spectacularly for him too. Who is going to give us even £6M of the £16M we paid for him or whatever it was?

Recruitment is everything.

I am sure, despite the performance of Ndaiye against Roma and the free-kick goal from Lindstrøm in the friendly, most Evertonians knew Dyche would start with McNeil, Calvert-Lewin, Harrison and Doucoure in the No 10 role.

These 4 played most of the games last season and were also regulars in the team that went 15 games without a win. Yet Dyche thought they were the best front 4 to start.

The goal return from our front 4 is very poor and only Sheffield Utd scored less goals last season.

I do wonder if Thelwell and Dyche ever sit down and identify where we need strengthening? Last season, we brought in Beto, Danjuma, Chermetti, Young and Harrison on loan.

Now I assume Dyche brought in Young and Harison as both played 90% of the time were the others got 15 or 20 minutes when we were chasing games.

I would have loved to hear the conversation they may or may not have had over our full-back positions. We had Seamus (36) who struggled with injury last season, Young (39), Patterson, who clearly Dyche doesn't rate, and Mykolenko our only left-back. Because, if that conversation did take place, how come we sign 2 forwards, a midfield player, and a centre-back, yet no full-back.

All the time Dyche has been here, he has not improved the team collectively or individually. And before anyone mentions Branthwaite, Dyche said he doesn't do much coaching of him.

I also think reading the many posts since Saturday and speaking to many fellow Blues, many are fast losing patience with Dyche and his snide comments about fans leaving early haven't helped.

Just on what Michael Ball said in his column, Dyche is so one-dimensional that he has made Everton predictable and therefore easy to play against. He also mentions about wingers who don't cross the ball, don't create and don't score.

I think many Blues will be very interested in his team selection for the weekend's game against Spurs; will he bring in some attacking options? Or will it be virtually the same team and see if we can hang on for a point?

Dropped to the bottom of the cesspit in all things football, by the dead one and Moshiri, it has taken a special kind of manager to get some character and team play back, sufficient for survival.

Let's be realistic, it is clear that is what this squad is. Thelwell has had time and some funds to bring in some decent players to better the squad and enhance the team. He has failed.

From the players he has brought in, Dyche has rarely played them, even in dire circumstances. The only conclusion one can draw from this is that the two are not in harmony.

Never once in his pre-match preamble has Dyche praised the Thelwellians nor the man himself. Everton still lack everything they lacked before The Dead One dying and Thelwells appointment. Full backs, pace, goalscoring, goalscorers etc.

Let's turn to Dyche. He is Old Arse. Stubborn. Stuck in his ways. The man will pick those he sees as his trusted soldiers over anything else. To the detriment of the team and result.

However overall he comes out on top with this mindset if ugly progression and avoiding relegation is the aim.

gainst Spurs, I believe it will be the same team, save Holgate for Young. Why?

Well, as outlined above and for them to set straight their woeful performance v Brighton.

As for Moyes, it is rarer then the 2nd coming that a manager returns to a club with anything other than failure or at best drab mediocrity. Moyes wont have a board, owner, finances, stability supporters (in the majority), players, youth (not that (a) we have any, or (b) he would use them).

You are clutching at straws if you believe Moyes would be an improvement on Dyche. Remember, West Ham were on a different level to us when he took over and still are.

The Problem: Moshiri is an abject failure and uses criminal slights of hand to try to manipulate dire circumstances to get out of the mess he has partially caused. (The dead one being his guiding light before going toes up).

Until Moshiri is jettisoned, we are staying where we are.

People accuse Dyche of turning us into Burnley. Unfortunately, Kenwright and Moshiri did that.

Same with Holgate, he reappeared far to osoon. Imagine Dyche had taken a chance on young Dixon and it had backfired. Someone down the line, perhaps me, might just say — hey what about Holgate?

He's got plenty of experience and a lot to prove. Why damage the confidence of a young lad? Give Holgate a chance, don't listen to that Gaynes fella. Being a manager isn't so hard after all.

There were people on Saturday who said that the players were 100% to blame; Dyche, presumably, was 0% to blame. I found that utterly bonkers and the OP gives us some of the reasons for this:

“Dyche's lack of foresight and common sense in substitutions has been an irritating feature of his tenure as Everton manager. He can have absolutely no excuses for some of his poor decision-making”.

Does anyone still think that Dyche was 0% to blame and players 100%?

Oliver Glasner or Thomas Frank would not touch Everton with the largest bargepole on the Thames, and I for one would not blame them.

The OP catches our tight bind really nicely: “Replacing Dyche must happen at some point if we are to challenge for trophies and accolades, but we also have to acknowledge that we simply aren't ready for that yet”.

That is the nub of the matter. Most of us, I think, do not want Dyche to be our manager, but most of that “most” are realistic and realise that this is what it is and Dyche is going nowhere in the present prevailing circumstances.

Dyche is a basement gaffer who operates well in and around the bottom three and he will most likely be our manager until we are free of that curse (12th last season is not enough; he got Burnley into Europe once, but another 12th and he could well be on his way) or new owners get rid of him.

Rob (17): “Young, Keane and Doucoure the early season favourites for the whipping boy accolade”.

Always respect your posts, Rob, but they have been the whipping boys for a while (Doucoure perhaps is a later arrival and he will be a regular if he does not improve on his Saturday shite). I suppose my question to you is to ask how you would make a case for each one of them?

Tom Bowers 18: Brighton are not a “naff team”.

When I referred to Brighton as a naff team, I meant that they don't rate as one of the top teams in the Premier League, and are little or no better than Everton.

Sure they got the points in this game but it wasn't too long ago if you recall that most of our ''usual suspects'' hammered them 5-1 on their own soil.

Hope you understand where I was coming from.

Let's be honest, Dyche is a bottom-half manager (or a top-half Championship manager). He's a David Moyes on steroids, ie, ultra conservative, lacking in imagination, creativity and courage.

Dyche was brought in to avoid relegation — nothing else. He will keep us up, again, this season. Nothing more, nothing less. He won't lead us out at the new stadium next season… if we resolve our ownership.

We are a step or two above "naff" and Brighton are a step or two above us!

Good shout on the 1-5. There are actually some close resemblances with the weekend. We scored 5 from 5 shots on target and they scored 3 from 3 shots on target.

Of our first choice starting XI only Pickford and Branthwaite would get in their starting XI. Mainstays for us like Mykolenko and Garner may not even get on the bench for them. Two third-choice players they've released on loan (because of their huge squad) - Osman (to Feyenoord) and Buonanotte (to Leicester) might well get in our first XI.

This is the issue that many Evertonians refuse to see - i.e. just how far we have been left behind in squad quality. That isn't just compared with the Rich 6 (now the Rich 8) but the likes of West Ham, Palace, Brentford and Brighton.

Transfermarkt independently rates us as having a squad with a value of €320m. By comparison, Brighton's squad is valued at €540m. The difference is €220m.

To put that into perspective, that would be like us fielding a team as follows (and having a bit of change left - and without having to sell anyone to raise funds):

Pickford
Wan-Bissaka (€15m)
Mykolenko
Branthwaite
Tarkowski
Garner
Wharton (€20m)
Gibbs-White (€29m)
Bailey (€32m)
Kudus (€43m)
Isak (€70m)

The dire financial situation really has decimated our playing squad. If you think we're little or no worse than Brighton - you're wrong.

Of our first-choice starting XI, only Pickford and Branthwaite would get in their starting XI. Mainstays for us like Mykolenko and Garner may not even get on the bench for them. Two third-choice players they've released on loan (because of their huge squad) — Osman (to Feyenoord) and Buonanotte (to Leicester) might well get in our first XI.

This is the issue that many Evertonians refuse to see — just how far we have been left behind in squad quality. That isn't just compared with the Rich 6 (now the Rich 8) but the likes of West Ham, Palace, Brentford and Brighton.

Transfermarkt independently rates us as having a squad with a value of €320M. By comparison, Brighton's squad is valued at €540M. The difference is €220M.

To put that into perspective, that would be like us fielding a team as follows (and having a bit of change left - and without having to sell anyone to raise funds):

Pickford
Wan-Bissaka (€15M)
Mykolenko
Branthwaite
Tarkowski
Garner
Wharton (€20M)
Gibbs-White (€29M)
Bailey (€32M)
Kudus (€43M)
Isak (€70M)

The dire financial situation really has decimated our playing squad. If you think we're little or no worse than Brighton — you're wrong.

All the numbers don't paint the picture properly.

We shall see how Brighton fare against other teams and you will see they are not a squad with quality depth like many others.

But to play a 39-year-old at right-back, first game of the season in the Premier League… does it make sense?

Dyche had a choice of Young, Holgate or Dixon on Saturday.
I understand why he picked Young ahead of the other two.

Now that Young is suspended, I would play Dixon or possibly Lindstrøm. I haven't seen either kick a ball but don't want Holgate anywhere near the team.

I left the Everton game early — what Sean Dyche said to the fourth official proved he'd had enough

I said at the beginning of last season that we needed Dyche because he brought structure but that fans would not be happy with the style of play once survival was secure.

Nothing has changed… in fact, the very same methods and players he employed then are clearly not good enough. Fans expect more and unless he adapts tactically then we are in trouble.

There is no clamour for a change of manager but he has to change tactics. New owners, whoever they are, will wipe the slate clean and start afresh; if we continue tactically in the same manner with the same players, we are in for a difficult season again.

He is a risk averse manager that will generally get a team working as hard as it can usually but a manager that's only ever been used to being in charge of clubs in the lower echelons. Maybe that's all we are now, a Burnley playing in royal blue, it's hard to accept but it seems that's what it is.

Dyche, or a manager of similar ilk, wouldn't have got near the gig when Moyes left in 2013, Everton were a club on the up and it was a club many would have been hammering the door down to get into.

Everton 2024 is a completely different beast, a pigsty of a club, saddled with debts and no leadership off the pitch, no ambition to change the rudderless direction.

I don't think we will ever see an even half-entertaining team under this current regime. You'll get what you get, a struggle to score 40 goals again and just have to hope the defence is sound enough to keep sufficient clean sheets to win enough points for survival.

Nothing is changing this season unfortunately.

Rutter (Leeds) €46m
Gruda (Mainz) €30m
Minteh (Newcastle) €35m
Wieffer (Feyenoord) €32m
Osman (Nordsjaellend) €20m
Yalcouye (Gothenborg) €7m

These are very high calibre young players.

We, meanwhile, have O'Brien, Ndiaye and Iroegbunam - plus loans of Harrison and Lindstrom. All of that is just €50m.

We have been outspent by Ipswich since 2021.

First off the score is a travesty, it was never a 0-3 game watching the game.
We have injuries all over the place already plus Youngs suspension, arn't we blessed.

Penalty given then denied, a miss of the season to boot, then they give a goal away and so the misery begins.

2025
GK: Crellin / Virginia
DF: Coleman / Young / Keane / Holgate
MF: Gana / Doucoure
WF: Lindstrom / Harrison
ST: Maupay / DCL

2026
GK: Tyrer
DF: Mykolenko / Tarkowski
MF: Garner

2027
GK: Pickford
DF: Branthwaite / Patterson
MF: Iroegbunam
WF: McNeil
ST: Chermiti / Beto

2028
DF: O'Brien

2029
MF: Ndiaye

I've taken the list at face-value but it's interesting how many 'first-teamers' are in their final year at the club. Is that a healthy thing? when we need everybody fired up and giving their maximum for another tough campaign ahead.

Of course he is the problem, he had a solution and failed to try in friendlies and could have stuck his fingers up to us if he had tried and youth was not ready.

Instead he decided to not only extend Young by 12 months but also to start him, how did that go for him?

When we escaped relegation last season, I had mixed feelings because, despite our worst run of form for 65 years, he managed to pull off a great escape. But there was another part of me that thought, "Damn, we can't sack him now".

My prediction is that we will face another season like the last two, battling relegation and the whole of the fanbase desperately trying to get us over the line, so that we can play Premier League football in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Sean, if you're listening, football is a game that is played on the ground with quick and nimble passing and moving and with highly aggressive energy to get the ball back when you lose it.

An example: Beto reminded me of a more limited Bernie Wright when he came on and left me pining for Brett Angell.

Harrison? McNeil? How many Premier League sides would entertain them?

I think you've answered you're own question there mate, it will be the same team on Saturday, obviously; Young will be replaced, probably by Holgate.

Dyche's thinking will be "I'll give the same 11 who failed so miserably against Brighton the chance to make amends against Spurs."

You see he's unwilling to change, and change he should because he's got options now.

I'd desperately love to see the one-paced ineffective McNeil benched, Harrison moved to the left and Lindstrøm played right with Ndiaye taking Clumsy Doucoure's role just behind the striker.

I'd also bring O'Brien in for Calamity Keane, but there's more chance of him bringing them all in than Latchford and Dean playing up top.

Because, as we all know, Sean doesn't do change.

Plus I'd put money on Lindstrøm being Danjuma Mk II as McNeil and Harrison are nailed-on wide players, regardless how limited they are.

Lindstrøm is not a wide player, he's a central attacker. His being played wide at Napoli is a major reason why his numbers were so poor. I would expect to see him replace Gana before long, with Tim behind him.

We are where we are because of two men and a board filled with incompetence. Latterly one has gone, the board sacked and the last man standing just wants rid and couldn't give a monkey's about the manager or the team. This is the legacy of Bill Kenwrights 24/7 search, a search that ultimately has crippled our club for many years to come.

Enter Sean Dyche. A man brought in to fend off impending relegation, He manfully did the job, it wasn't pretty but he did it in his way. Full credit to him for that because without him we were doomed.

But I also said that the fans would not accept the style of play once we were safe. With the dawn of the new stadium, hopes had been raised and relegation was behind us. Alas, Sean Dyche didn't get the memo.

Is he the problem? Absolutely not. Moshiri has failed at every level other than building a magnificent stadium, that will be his legacy despite the calamities he caused and its impacts on the club for decades to come.

Fans are fickle, Everton fans can (are) magnificent but they are the most knowledgeable and intelligent observers of football. They collectively can see what's right or wrong with players, teams, tactics or decision-making. They don't suffer fools or take prisoners.

But they aren't stupid, their loyalty is unwavering yet they know the situation we are in, they know it's not easy being blue having to put up with a lack of quality because the tap has been turned off. (The well isn't dry BTW, the owner, er, has just said "No more of my money!")

Frustration with Dyche is there because his style of play has never changed since his years at Burnley in a league that has moved on tactically with improved tactics, players and managers. Optimism that we have progressed is tempered by the style and management of the manager whose ability to improve the team is tempered by limited funds but also his own style and tactics.

My apologies for the length but Dyche was never the reason we are in the mess we are; without him, we would be relegated. The accolades for that are Kenwright's, Barrett-Baxendale's and Moshiri's.

Personally, I think Moshiri has been nothing but someone's frontman, not the man pulling the strings. All that changed with the sanctions after the Ukraine War started.

What should happen now?

The mess and destruction due to financial mismanagement was hurtling towards bankruptcy, staved off by loan deals with sharks. Hopefully someone with the resources and financial clout and business acumen will buy us. Moshiri's legacy will be magnificent but it will be the only thing he will be remembered for.

So too Dyche, a footnote in our troubled times, kept us up, awful football at times, but he will be remembered better than the likes of Allardyce, Benitez or Lampard and so he should. He was and probably still is, the man to do the job but, should safety eventually beckon, Dyche will find he will have done himself out of a job.

Who would be a manager? All of us already are.

The difference in physicality and speed in the opposition was noticeable, a real step up. I had a chat with a couple of the Farsley players in the lounge after the game, they both said they thought Marine will be okay if they can adjust to the pace.

“It's legs in this league, everything is legs. We've brought in 2 or 3 players over the summer who can run, you wouldn't believe the difference it makes.”

Walking home, I've been thinking what a difference it must make if you are playing in the Premier League with 2 or 3 players (or more) who lack pace.

We'll again take a team paid midtable wages into a season with 17th place as the target.

He'll deliver slightly above those expectations.

It won't be pretty. I don't rate him at all as a manager — but that doesn't mean he's the issue. They're separate things.

Nobody is saying Sean Dyche has been given a fair hand but he loses the confidence of the supporters when he insists on playing the likes of Michael Keane, Holgate and Ashley Young when we have better players on the bench who surely could have been organised to put on a better display. A number of us posted last week that Young would be roasted by the pace of Minteh, Adingra and Mitoma, so we should have had a plan for that.

Dyche said the side is more balanced now but I cant see it. We have just replaced Danjuma with Lindstrøm, Dobbin with Ndiaye, and Godfrey with O'Brien.

Our concentration of any resources should have been on getting a goalscorer and at least one full-back — neither of which have been addressed and, according to Dyche, won't be.

Thelwell has been lauded for doing well with the squad but he is turning us into a Wolves replica — a team that also couldn't score goals when he was there.

Now I know the majority of the blame lies with Moshiri and the smoke and mirrors man but surely we need to be setup and coached better than we have seen recently?

Getting beaten by Salford and Coventry should have been a big red flag but most of us thought “It's only preseason, it doesn't matter too much” — but it does..

Everton Football Club Under-18s should have been able to batter Salford and our Under-21s should have been capable of not getting hammered by Coventry.

There is still something rotten at our club and Sean Dyche has been papering over the cracks but for me the cracks have already reappeared.

Christine, your posts as always are words of wisdom.

Peter, I still think it would be a good gesture by the club to play Marine at the new stadium as one of the test matches, even if it's against the U21s.

Well done to the U21s for fighting back although leaving it late. I know they had senior players on the pitch in terms of Beto and Lindstrøm, but they gave a good account of themselves. Lindstrøm can certainly take a free kick. Get him on the pitch, Mr Dyche.

That explains everything about how reckless and poor Everton's recruitment has been for years.

He is a good Championship manager but I would bring David Moyes back.

“It's my job to give them a chance when they are ready to go and perform. At this moment, I still think there's a bit of work to be done and a bit of awareness for them to understand about the Premier League.” Reported by the Liverpool Echo

Dyche is not going to change his methods or philosophy, and that's his prerogative, but surely he realises that in this soccer-mad city, with a rivalry that is more intense then most places, that even with the huge amount of uncertainty surrounding the ownership etc, the Everton supporters deserve to see some chances being created and a few shots on the opponents goal from time to time.

If you don't shoot you don't score, and it's been that way for years, I can't see how things improve, if the best we can do is try and keep matches low-scoring affairs. I don't mean we should go all-out attack, without defensive discipline, but it must be soul-destroying for what few creative players we have, if it's all about defend, defend, defend.

Some of us are of an age where the number of games we are likely to attend is rapidly diminishing, and I'd hate to believe this current way of playing is going to continue for any great length of time, although I do accept that Dyche's methods aren't going to alter.

The players available to Dyche, are what they are, however, if the manager doesn't encourage them to take chances, both literally and figuratively, then they won't, they will do as they are asked and no more - it's Everton but not as we knew it.

An example of how this mindset leads to failure is Gareth Southgate and his England team, very good technical and attacking players but dour methods and colour-by-numbers tactics, when a different manager may have utilised the talent available differently and may have won the tournament in style, rather than limping to the final and losing it.

Last season, we earned points enough for 12th — 15th net after 'taxes'
We will do well to hit 15th again, which is inside Dyche's KPI. so he's going nowhere.

And who would you get anyway?

*If we're still well in the bottom 3 by Bommy Night this might have to change, but you wouldn't bet on it.

But what got me was Sean Dyche wasn't risk averse and played Young, who was Everton's Achilles Heel. It has happenrd before, as it was on Saturday and will happen again when he plays.

But it wasn't about Young alone. McNeil wasn't covering and looked lost and confused most of the game. Gana made one of his classic passes, but he tried his best and showed guts. Keane always looks error-prone but wasn't the worst player by a long way.

Coleman was badly missed, more than words can say. How poor the back line played, and missed his organisational skill along with his pace and passing.

But the range of issues prevailing at Everton from last season and the previous seasons hang low. The stench of frustration, anger and in some quarters, hopelessness is live and real.

Respectfully, everyone is entitled to their views at the game or from distance. Time to stick together for the battles ahead on and off the park. But to have a pop and put the poker in to the fans in his post-match presser was a poor call.

Sometimes, in the darkest hour, silence is golden. Time heals. But I believe that Spurs is a massive game, in terms of the result but more on the character the team shows for 97 minutes.

Lindstrøm looked like he was limping v Roma before he even came on. If he is fit, I'd start him ahead of McNeil v Spurs. Drop Doucoure for Ndiaye and make sure there's a captain on that pitch kicking arses in the right spirit for Everton FC.

But the shortcomings and predictability of the long diagonal crossfield switch-of-play pass, with no pace to exploit and a centre-forward who has to make his own chances and drifts to the bylines to try and keep the flow of play going for his team, has been sussed.

Creativity through the middle with options from either flank is needed. There's a long, long way to go. But the road to recovery on the park starts now, and the bloody road to the calm and stability of having a proper organisation owning and managjng Everton can't come soon enough.

But hope eternal.

UTFTs!

Football can only be a simple game when you get on the pitch and, even then, the better players generally win. It evidently gets even simpler when you play it on the internet.

To judge a manager, you need to take many things into consideration:

What sort of squad did he inherit?
How stable is the club?
What level do his bosses operate at?
How many unwanted players on big contracts can he shift?
How many players want to come to his club?
How does his war chest compare to his peers?

[The list goes on…]

For me, the most telling line on this entire thread is Robert's final line (post #47):

"We've been outspent by Ipswich in the past three years" -

Yep, that'll be the same Ipswich who have been to hell and back. I'm pretty sure Robert could have named many, many other clubs.

Nobody will confuse this Everton team with the 1970 Brazilian team, that's for sure, but Dyche and Thelwell inherited a squad almost entirely made up of players who are better without the ball than they are with it.

All balanced criticIsm is fair — they get paid enough, but people mindlessly attacking Dyche and Thelwell with overly simplistic solutions remind me of those groups of people who gather together to throw bricks at the fire brigade.

Evertonians who are concerned about their club and would like to see a better Everton are the life-blood of the club. They may not have the appropriate solutions, and most of us know that solutions aren't simple or readily available, but tactical flexibility is available to every manager, if he chooses to adopt it.

Limited funds of course play a major part, but is Beto better than the lad who moved from Blackburn to Ipswich? I think not, but it proves that there are still players available for relatively inexpensive prices — although the wage demands may have been higher than we could afford; I don't know.

We lost a match. It's football. You win some, you lose some. Temper your frustration, Blues, and focus on the next match. I am.

Some of us are of an age where the number of games we are likely to attend is rapidly diminishing, and I'd hate to believe this current way of playing is going to continue for any great length of time.

I'm a season ticket holder who renews without even thinking about it, despite living 200 miles from Liverpool now, but I'm aware that I'm starting to go up for less games. We are painful to watch most of the time — at best, we're efficient and hard-working; at worst, we're turgid, joyless and frustrating.

I keep thinking we'll get better to watch, but it needs to happen relatively soon or I won't be fit enough to climb up those massive steep steps in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

We have an owner who is going to take an absolute hiding on his investment, the longer the takeover saga goes on, the bigger the hiding he will take in my view.

Until we sort out our finances ,which can only happen with a successful takeover, we have to grin and bear it.

We are now selling players, not to keep within Profitability and Sustainability rules, but to keep Administration at bay.

Sean Dyche is not my ideal choice as our manager, on balance I would still prefer the Austria manager with a younger coach working underneath him as I still have this fantasy that we can be a Top 6 side sooner rather than later…

But at the moment, needs must, and given what he did last season, he has built up huge credit in the bank and should be left to bring us safely to into the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock.

Everton, historically former giants of English football, are now being outspent by clubs who were considered lower division clubs for most of their history.

If your overseers don't move with the times, this is what happens.

Leicester pulled a one-off a few years back.

Chelsea have spent ridiculously in the past few years including this summer, amassing a squad of 50 players.

I can't see them winning the Premier League any time soon.

Yes, he deserves recognition for last season, amidst the adversity of two sets of (unfair) points deductions. Yet he managed to win the derby, and pull off a series of results with a threadbare squad, which saw us defy relegation threats.

This is tempered by his stubbornness to alter an underperforming team and individual players. Let's face it, he wasn't everyone's choice when after a succession of managers, some, allegedly World Class, when the position again became available.

Coupled with the inheritance of a mismatched squad of players, being lied to by the then Maggot of a Chairman, also having to deal with an absentee owner. When you consider all of these factors, many would have walked, but he has stayed loyal, and performed as best as he could.

My personal criticism of him regards (although limited) his initial team selections, which although obvious to thousands in the ground (home or away),are just not working, he is so reluctant to make changes.

There is possibly a degree of hypothesis attached here, that had players X and Y been utilised from the subs bench earlier, or indeed selected from the outset, results could well have been different.

I am still not happy about Saturday's team selection as many others were too, and although hindsight is a marvellous thing, I still believe, with who was available, the result could well have been different.

Having said that, it was only one game, and one I'm sure Dyche knows he got wrong, but he would never publicly admit that! Doesn't augur too well for our next challenge against Spurs but you never know, and I for one live in hope… until that final whistle has been blown.

However, just like Michael @74, me and my lad are long-distance season ticket holders these days and it's hard to get excited about making the journey to have a completely joyless experience. Of course we still do it because there are the odd gems hidden in the dog-shit pile, like last season's derby.

I know exactly what I'm going to get this season, I know the likes of Lindstrøm and Ndiaye will be seen sparingly for at least the first quarter of the season. I know Holgate will probably play at right-back against Spurs.

I know all these decisions are made to avoid relegation first and foremost so why should I complain? But it would be nice, just once to be surprised by Dyche.

I read somewhere the other day that Man Utd suddenly became interested in a striker (can't remember who it was), purely because Chelsea showed an interest in him. It sounds to me like a clear case of signing players just to prevent them joining a rival.

I don't know how the squad will finish up on 30 August, it is patently obvious it is not good enough, now, to keep us up.

Dyche worked wonders to stave off relegation — twice! Too often, the football was dire… but was there any other way to play that would have avoided relegation?

With the squad he inherited and the strength of it now, built out of necessity, can anyone name a manager who would come to Everton and make us better?

I think Sean Dyche is the manager who we need for now; when or if our situation is sorted out financially, I think even Sean knows he will not be the man who takes us further forward.

Who said "Things can only get better"? I hope he was bleedin' right!

I could swear that Ashley Young is earning a few quid on the betting market to make do for his retirement, he was solid as a rock throughout his career and now does all these kind of...

I would like to throw some names in the hope (naive, I know) that someone does look at them:

Killian Sardella, a versatile right-back from Anderlecht;
Garna Douath, a centre-midfielder from Salzburg;
Zaydou Youssouf from Famalicao;
Nilson Angulo, left-winger from Anderlecht.

And that Mosquera kid from Hellas Verona does look very quick and deadly in the box.

I was only thinking the same this morning when I read the “gossip”. It looks very much like the tactics of Juventus and Real Madrid of not too many years ago.

But then I thought “Would that escape the constrictions of Mr Masters today?” Chelsea could be the new Man City!!!

Ah well, let's hope it helps to keep his beady eye off us for a while!

It can't be a money issue given we've spent money on other areas and I'd personally say a right-back was a lot more urgent than re-signing Harrison.

Also, why were most of our new signings on the bench for the season opener? They have been brought in on relatively big money, had a decent pre-season and don't even merit a start at home to Brighton? Tim Iroegbunam probably only started because Garner was injured.

We finally sign some decent-looking players, early on in the window to allow them to have a decent pre-season, and then we still stick to the same players from last season. I don't get it myself. We struggled to score last season but don't have Ndiaye or Lindstrøm in the side as Dyche is too focused on not losing first and foremost.

Tarkowski didn't have a great game but how much of that was knowing he had Keane next to him? Also, Keane is surely not the answer at centre-back so why not play O'Brien? Who we've just shelled out £17M for.

The new guys will eventually be in the starting line-up but it seems only when Dyche's hand is forced. He seems too reluctant to try something different.

We'll lose to Spurs on Saturday. Son will tear whoever we play at right-back a new one, so the discussion on Dixon or not is a bit irrelevant for me. Any option for us will be poor.

As for Dyche, he'll be our manager until the new ownership is sorted out. I imagine he may not be around next season if the new owners have some ambition above just avoiding the drop.

Really missed an opportunity last Saturday.

Who could we then attract mid-season to a basket-case club in the turmoil that we are currently 'enjoying'?

Dyche is too stuck in his ways and will never change. I'd be very happy if he left. Thanks but we need to move on and change our style.

It seems to me he has a say in players Thelwell brings in but Thelwell has absolutely no say in said players making Dyche's lineups. Please do not extend his contract.

At least we can agree on one thing, mate:

"Evertonians who are concerned about their club and would like to see a better Everton are the life-blood of this club."

I can't disagree with any of that, but so are the many thousands who see what you see, but still support a manager because they recognise he is trying to swim with both hands tied behind his back.

You rightly point out that a manager has a choice of tactics, but some have more of a choice than others. If you are manager of, say Luton, you will be lauded for playing fast attacking football all the way to the Championship.

Everton managers don't have that luxury. The pressure is far greater. Nobody wants to be the fella who brings this great institution crashing down. Relegation for us is unthinkable. That's why every manager we have had in recent years has put total emphasis on not getting beaten.

Carlo tried to scale higher heights for a brief spell; unfortunately, even he looked down and went safety first. When we did bring in flair and imagination. Rafa couldn't wait to get rid.

Dyche has been dealt the worst hand of all. He has inherited the players that other fear-ridden managers have brought here to save their necks. Players who can stifle. Players who in the end will get you enough points to survive.

It's easy to say Ipswich got a better deal than Beto, but did he come in on the never-never like Beto? Do Ipswich have to resort to scraping from that particular barrel?

I said in my first post that fair criticism is always justified, but some of the nastiness, spiteful name-calling and ridiculous solutions I see directed against Dyche and Thelwell defy logic.

"Dycheball" was being played at Goodison Park long before Sean got here.

We'll never know the full ins and outs…

I feel sure you must have heard or seen these words from our manager in recent days:

“We've brought some players in this summer who we think can be more effective. They're going to learn about the Premier League, particularly Illiman and Jesper, but they haven't experienced it yet.

“It's my job to give them a chance when they are ready to go and perform. At this moment, I still think there's a bit of work to be done and a bit of awareness for them to understand about the Premier League.”

I think the man in charge, who scoffs at advice or queries proffered by the like of us, would point to this as an answer to your question:

Why were most of our new signings on the bench for the season opener? They have been brought in on relatively big money, had a decent pre-season and don't even merit a start at home to Brighton?

Is that reasonable? Yet as you state:

We struggled to score last season but don't have Ndiaye or Lindstrøm in the side as Dyche is too focused on not losing first and foremost.

Well, he says it's really because they don't have enough experience and knowledge of the Premier League. Hard to argue with that, surely?

The new guys will eventually be in the starting line-up but it seems only when Dyche's hand is forced.

Or, by his words, after they've had a little more work done on developing the awareness required for the Premier League.

Or is it all just so much Dyche word salad? Makes a brief change from Dycheball!

He has inherited a squad with a couple of really good players, several good players, but the bulk is then average or worse. No money,

His dithering with subs, and insistence on experience over youth has cost us.

McNeil, I genuinely like as a player, but he's not a winger. Not quick enough or nimble. I don't think I heard him mentioned on the highlights anywhere for Saturday.

Harrison seemed to start brightly. I like him and would keep him if we can't get Lindstrøm on a permanent deal.

Young is a liability, everyone can see that. I have no confidence in him. Holgate too.

Keane I think is (on the whole) a decent but not great defender, in patches, but he has a brittle mentality which causes him to panic, and get decision paralysis leading to a single bad mistake.

Calvert-Lewin must be totally fed up, runs and runs, misses good chances and struggles for service. If I were as badly supported at my job, I'd seriously consider leaving as well. I think there is really a quality striker in there, but we don't help him out in the slightest with service and supply.

Maupay is another forward who seems to have had their scoring ability lobotomised out of them once they joined us. (Seriously, the list is longer than Hadrian's Wall!)

Beto is similar to Calvert-Lewin but with more enthusiasm and less finesse.

Dyche may be forced into playing Dixon at right-back. Who knows, maybe this is Branthwaite Mk 2. To be blunt, could he have done worse? He had the pace to recover and react faster than that old carthorse who played.

This may be the case over the squad: take a gamble, for fuck's sake! At the moment, what do we have to lose?

Our Premier League status maybe?

We finished 12th last season with a very poor squad because of our defensive record. It was very boring, but we compromise that defensive strength at our peril.

This season, Dyche will continue to prioritise defensive strength with what continues to be a very poor squad. It will again be boring and at times soul destroying. However, it is the right thing to do to secure Premier League survival (and indeed is what Ancelotti ended up doing with a much better squad).

As last season, there will also be moments when we get a fully fit first XI playing together and we look quite good. Enjoy it when it happens. Ultimately, I expect we'll finish 12th again — but, importantly, having bedded in a few players with the capability to get us into the top half in our first season in the new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock (which might also coincide with a few quid for transfers from new owners).

Late season wins against Palace, Bournemouth and last season's earlier than usual 'safety achieved' position, may happen again this time around, but it's becoming tiresome and very difficult to get behind.

Thirty-eight games and we'll likely enjoy about a third of them if we're very lucky; pragmatism or defeatism, I'm not sure which is which. I'm not blaming Dyche for this, it's just how the club has operated for far too long.

The club is very lucky that it's no longer the 70s or the 80s, because the crowd that stayed to the end of the Brighton game would have been a very large proportion of the total gate.

On Saturday, would anyone argue that he could at least have brought a couple of those players on for 30 minutes in place of players that were not performing to Premier League standards?

Could anyone argue a "not ready" Lindstrøm wouldn't have contributed more than a totally anonymous McNeil?

Could anyone argue a "not ready" O'Brien wouldn't have steadied the defense more than an ill-disciplined Michael Keane?

Could anyone argue that a rapid but inexperienced Dixon wouldn't have performed better than an aging Ashley Young?

I have always said that the players need inspiration both from the coach and from the crowd. Bringing on those subs would have at least lifted the mood of the crowd and provided some inspiration.

I have actually supported Sean Dyche for the past 2 seasons but to me he looks beaten himself as if the pressure and stress has become too much for him — and as such, he may not even be able to inspire himself, let alone the players.

However, if I look across the first fixtures of the season, I can easily point out several players across many clubs making their Premier League debuts. Seems a bit of a cop-out for me, Dyche saying ours aren't ready as they've not played here. I bet if he could rewind he'd start with a different team.

We need to ‘manage in' players we sign somehow. And that managing in seems to include them being spectators on the bench. Having spent 90 mins watching us chase the ball around to Brighton, without getting on the pitch, I wonder how better prepared Lindstrøm and O'Brien are for White Hart Lane — assuming they play.

We were always starting on the back foot with Young and Keane in the side. I just hope no one important gets injured in the match tomorrow and we wait with bated breath on a right-back.

"At the moment, what do we have to lose?"

Well, we can't go any lower in the table, next stop Championship, which, in this our final Goodison (home) year, is unthinkable!

If I were to express a word of optimism around the question: How long do we have to endure this crap football? I guess the simple answer is until next season. Then, if Deloitte are correct (which I personally have doubts about), we will start to see a £55M uplift in our revenue which will change our PSR equation.

Also, if we also get new owners who can re-structure the debt to make it more easily serviced, then we might be looking up at the stars, even with half a leg still in the gutter.

There's no question to answer; the city of Liverpool is indeed mad about football and has been for a very long time.

The fact that Everton is going through such a fallow time hasn't dampened the enthusiasm but it has made it less fun.

I'm writing this season off already and just can't wait for the Bramley-Moore Dock era to start.

I'll hopefully attend quite a few games, but I'm really “meh” about it all at the moment.

I think seeing Keane and Young still in the first-team squad just fills me with despair.

Regarding playing the youngsters, firstly how many would have been happy to have seen Dixon given a start on Saturday?

Given the same result, how many would shrug their shoulders and think "Well, he wasn't that bad actually"?

How many would have liked Young not to have been involved at all?

And Keane and Holgate?

We've lashed out millions on supposed replacements for our resident donkeys and yet we don't play them. Question to Dyche is simply: "Why not.?"

I stand by Dyche by a thread given what he has done since he's been here, but God almighty, man, wake up and smell the coffee.

Is he to blame? Yes, of course he is. Will he change tack? Who knows? After his sly unnecessary dig at the fans, maybe he will make changes.

If he starts Dixon, yes, I know Son will likely give him a torrid time, but you just never know until you try.

Throw the newbies in as well and just see what happens. If it doesn't work out, we can all look forward to early subs with his faves. That would be of novelty value on its own!

Einstein's theory and all that. Sean, make some bloody changes … Quick!!! Lose the fans and you will be toast.

Mark, sorry, no disrespect there. I know you are an away fan of considerable stature. That phrase has been bandied about for a few days and it is on my nerves.

Mark, it's nearly September and you'll be there alongside us!

I've just already accepted that it's going to be yet another meaningless season on the pitch. Such a shame that we'll say goodbye to Goodison with a whimper rather than a roar…

But I'll hopefully get to some home games as well this season and shed some nostalgic tears. UTFT

No, they either saw their way from the outset to a quick way to a mega-payoff or they naively put a degree of faith into the football integrity of the GT duo.

The first type are loaded for life; most of the second brigade are all but now unemployable.

Everton that......... for decades — to all our cost.

I should not have said anything there and waited for another instance. I get it, make no mistake, I feel the disappointment. It just seems very risky to start piling on the pressure and swim in the cynicism. These players are not the type who can carry the full historical weight of the club's problems and still perform well.

I'm not stating give them a pass nor am I asking fans not to see them struggling. It is a difficult human family event. The manager cannot just come out and say "we're a bit shit right now… but wait" without immediately destroying some valuable confidence and faith.

I thought it was a settled matter that Dyche has our best interests at heart when he devises strategies to survive various crises. We need to temper the criticism, avoid the insults, definitely shed the vacuous attacks, and try, just try to support them through this difficult period.

For what it's worth, I think the squad has been hinted to save themselves for the matches coming when we have the regulars available.

I always enjoy your posts. You add your own perspective. I hope you are able to watch the blues on Saturday.

Suck you in, Mark? It's like a very strong magnetic force!!

I read Matthew Parry's considered article and felt obligated to reply as follows:

With a few caveats, yes, Sean Dyche is the problem

You see, I think Sean Dyche is absolutely to blame for the performances we are seeing at the moment and in large part for the last 18 months — the issue is we have bigger problems that mask the obvious and even make it seem like Dyche has done a good job. I don't think he has.

Let's get the caveats out of the way:

1) Dyche is not to blame for fan negativity or lack of ambition. In fact I think this was cultivated for years by Moyes removing expectations, playing up to The People's Club narrative whilst acting like Oliver Twist at the same time.

Dyche has absolutely hooked onto this, though, and what I don't like is that he comes across as manipulative and insincere to play on the psychological scars that the Moyes (and Kenwright) era left. I know that probably won't be a popular assessment of either Dyche or Moyes, but then Stockholm syndrome doesn't always follow logic.

2) Dyche is not to blame for the current state of affairs that we find ourselves in. Very difficult circumstances for anyone to deal with, but then doesn't he let us all know?

So, with those two caveated caveats out of the way, let's look at why Dyche is to blame.

First off, his stats at Everton are pretty much identical to his time at Burnley. This is his best level, it doesn't get any better. I'm fairly certain, within a few months of managing Man City, he would have caused Haaland to stop scoring with everyone saying "He's not what he used to be".

Secondly, I've said in a previous comment, Dyche treats every game like we are in a relegation scrap. It's his mentality. What it means is that he plays the percentages, what he knows, and doesn't have a Plan B.

That's the problem when you are so blinded by fear of trying something new — you tend to stick with what you know sometimes works. When it does work, people will say he's a tactical genius — but the problem is it will be consistently inconsistent and his teams will go on long runs without winning and then some attritional runs of winning.

At no point do I feel satisfied, but the relief of those attritional wins is enough to mask the dissatisfaction. It's genius really: create a problem — fix the problem by any means necessary, and people forget you created the problem in the first place because they are happy with the now. A shit sandwich, if you like.

Now it would be foolish of me to use Frank Lampard as a shining example, but that's exactly what I will do. In his first spell at Chelsea, when the chips were down, he couldn't do any transfers — he turned to youth. And it was the most successful thing he did in his management career:

Marc Guehi, Reece James, Billy Gilmour, Mason Mount, Ian Maatsen, Armando Broja, Tariq Lamptey were all given debuts by Lampard and arguably all (some more than others) proved to be better than the established older players. Indeed, other players like Tomori were enhanced through playing for Lampard.

So roll forward 17 August 2024 and an Everton Squad that has been enhanced a bit, but is also low on established quality.

You are a manager who has pretty much got yourself a free pass. Low expectations, high opportunity. No chance of being sacked, a fan base waiting for something to smile about (even in defeat).

You have a few problems: goals are hard to come by; central defence; right back; an aging team and set of players that don't look like they can perform. Your solution isn't innovative, it isn't exciting the paying fans, it isn't offering much-needed hope. It's selfish, self-preservation and arrogance.

Forget the fans. Young, Keane, Doucoure, and McNeil are your loyal subjects. And you still lose. Your team looks jaded, bereft of ideas — heads down as soon as the opposition makes the first punch.

If only that penalty had been awarded. That was the lifeline. The potential undeserved draw. How dare the right decision be made!

Cut through the crap, remove all the Snapchat filters, and suddenly you realise we have a manager who is out of his depth, thinks more of himself than anyone should, and doesn't care about the fans.

And the irony is, he might get a draw or a sneaky win at Tottenham. But, if he does, it'll be ugly to the point of embarrassing.

No fan entertained, no fan left with hope, no fan feeling satisfied. Just numb enough to hide the true pain.

 

One of the now 14 year-old proposals was for us fans to confront/rebel against the (even by 2010) lamentable and obvious catastrophic boardroom "leadership" by then driving us into the ground.

It's way worse now - as Kenwright's clique bask amid the £tens-of-millions he acquired at OUR expense.

Here's the article:-

I'm more concerned about Everton

By Colin Fitzpatrick : 14/10/2010 : Comments (157) :

... to be worried about events across the park.

Yesterday, on another thread here on ToffeeWeb, a poster from the US (Mike Gaynes) claimed he follows Everton's games but didn't see the UK press so knew little of the off-field history and "information" obtained through the press and media. At the moment, the world's sports media appear transfixed by events across the park, which is all very entertaining and an easy story for the media and the general public to follow with its heady mix of the country's popular obsessions of debt, the banks, a sprinkling of xenophobia and a former media idol fallen on hard times. Like most I've even spent a little time following the story but, not surprisingly, like Evertonians everywhere, I'm actually more concerned that my club are, and will probably remain, in a far worse long-term predicament than Liverpool FC are now and will ever be in the foreseeable future.

This summer, having apparently hit rock bottom and being a football club in crisis, Liverpool FC still managed to spend over £20m on new players whilst we ended up signing a no-cost ex-window fitter from the lower leagues to lead our line. Do you honestly believe David Moyes would have accepted this by choice If that had happened at Liverpool FC, their supporters would have been up in arms and yet apathetically conditioned Evertonians just sit there and meekly accept our current predicament.

Having turned their backs on the idea of "The People's Club", the Board of Directors have now rebranded Everton FC under the banner of Nil Satis Nisi Optimum. Does the current situation reflect or even merit the philosophy of 'Nil Satis Nisi Optimum' to you? Such marketing is at best inappropriate and at worst cynical and derogatory to those enlightened Evertonians who actually do know their history.

As Liverpool slipped into the relegation zone, last week, The Echo front page screamed about LFC hitting rock bottom when not a word was said the previous week when we were actually bottom of the league; perhaps our beloved chairman and our top-of-the-league spin department suddenly giving interviews and issuing press releases to all and sundry had something to do with it. What a pity our prowess in this area couldn't be transferred to similarly manage the financial affairs of the club and subsequently the quality of those Everton players in front of the opposition goal.

It's said that apportioning blame for a problem can be counterproductive yet it is also good practice to identify the root cause of that problem so that a solution can be found. Too many Evertonians are ambivalent when it comes to identifying the root cause of our problem; unlike at other clubs where supporters actually care enough to do something, to get involved, too many Evertonians do nothing and allow this perpetual state of mediocrity to exist.

Our dilemma is apparent: with October 2010 upon us we find ourselves, once again, at the wrong end of the table; already out of one cup, courtesy of a lowly League One club and blatantly unable to address a striker problem that has resulted in less than 20% of our 2010 goals [52] coming from a recognised striker and with little prospect of addressing the abysmal stadium issue save for another alleged effectively free scheme, the small print of which continues to be conveniently avoided.

To my mind, demands for playing 4-4-2 instead of 4-5-1, or a player here instead of there, are too simplistic and undervalue the complexity of the game; I am in no doubt whatsoever that we'll have a run of results and climb the table. This just isn't the problem being where we are, in the league, is a symptom, not the cause.

For me, the seeds of our latest predicament were sown a long, long time ago, but, in essence, these seeds began to germinate in May 2009. Cast your minds back to that long journey home following our defeat at the Cup Final; we consoled ourselves that we'd had a reasonable campaign, we'd reached the FA Cup Final, we had the Manager of the Season at the helm and by once again finishing fifth, we were now firmly established as the team leading the pack to break into the top 4. Our stock had never been higher in recent years and, if we were ever going to be sold, if we were ever going to take the next step forward, that was the time. Predictably, as we have become accustomed at Everton, the moment came and went.

Whilst the rest of us travelled home in defeat, the great and the good of Everton FC were celebrating and pressing the flesh at London's Grosvenor House. The chairman was relishing the final flickers of limelight he'd vainly sought over those preceding weeks, further opportunities to gild the lily with ever more outrageous stories... shamelessly, on TalkSport, in the presence of that Parry creature, he was now claiming to have been with Eddie Kavanagh at the '66 final; one wondered if Elvis and Tommy Steele were there in attendance also!

Back on the long journey home, many of us sought solace in the fact that we'd reached the Cup Final with some of our best players missing through injury; thus we'd hoped that the club could take that extra step upon their return the following season. Perhaps David Moyes thought the same, with a few strategic buys and the rub of the Green, that much yearned for trophy would be secured, perhaps even a Champions League place...

In hindsight, for Evertonians going to bed that night it was like going to bed on the Titanic on 14 April 1912, blissfully unaware that their optimism for the future was about to make a change for the worse. Sadly, many remain blissfully unaware.

In the months following this plateau, we learnt that we'd achieved record turnover for the year, our manager naturally told us he needed to increase the squad with bodies, and that Joleon Lescott was not for sale.

Following the abandonment of probing and difficult to stage manage Annual General Meetings by the Board, the CEO told a forum of shareholders that the Board would be open and responsive to any questions and that no question would be out of bounds; moments later the chairman, Bill Kenwright, immaturely refused to answer a question concerning the sale of the club whilst verbally abusing the shareholder for asking a perfectly legitimate question about a business to which he had a financial as well as emotional stake. This shareholder has subsequently relinquished his shareholding in disgust of the chairman and his arrogant attitude and actions towards minor shareholders.

The 2009-10 season began disastrously, defeat after defeat, an unbelievable injury list to a paper thin squad, the late sale of the "not for sale" Lescott and last minute acquisitions saw a faltering start to the campaign which only later appeared to flourish after an excellent display against Manchester United, the arrival of on-loan winger Landon Donavon, and the emerging development of Marouane Fellaini in a commanding defensive midfield role. The campaign concluded with early exits from all cup competitions and a final league placing of 8th condemned us to a season without European football.

During this close season, most Evertonians realised that the manager urgently needed to address the striker problem and the lack of width on the right following the departure of Donavan. Despite the annual posturing that fools hardly anyone anymore, many Evertonians have long since acclimatised themselves to the business strategy of the Bill Kenwright era, that is of asset disposal in order to fund the business; in other words having to sell to buy, sell to fund wages, sell to compete as best we can. We sell tangible assets, we sell intangible assets; nothing wrong with that occasionally but sadly this is the only strategy that the current board have. The CEO agreed at the public inquiry into Destination Kirkby that such a strategy is not sustainable in the long term. What happens is you either run out of assets to sell... or, as we found out this year, we own assets that people simply don't want to buy for a whole host of reasons.

Almost two months into the current Premier League season, despite playing some decent football, we've only just secured our first win and, with football being all about results, this clearly isn't good enough, so who's to blame? For me, there are only two candidates; the manager, or the chairman.

David Moyes became manager in 2002. It's widely acknowledged that Everton, not for the first time in recent history, avoided relegation that season due to his timely appointment ironically as a result of a recommendation from outgoing manager Walter Smith. His eight-year reign has yet to produce a trophy; his league finishes have been 15th, 7th, 17th, 4th, 11th, 6th, 5th, 5th and 8th; the previous eight years saw Everton finish 16th, 13th, 14th, 17th, 15th, 6th, 15th and 17th.

Highlights of the cup campaigns include a League Cup semi-final and an FA Cup Final that saw Everton lose out to Chelsea on both occasions, whilst lowlights include a litany of heavy and embarrassing defeats in the Premier League, domestic and European cup competitions... coupled with some of the lowest points and goal tallies in the club's history.

In his time at Everton, David Moyes has been awarded the LMA Manager of the Year accolade on three occasions and has been academically acknowledged as the best-value manager in the Premier League in terms of points obtained against wages paid. Objectively, his record on bringing players in can be best described as mixed (whose isn't?), great success with the likes of Cahill, Arteta, Pienaar and Lescott; less so with Beattie, Johnson, Davies and Bilyaletdinov... the less said about Per Krøldrup and Andy van der Meyde, the better.

Bill Kenwright's appointment to the Board in 1989 coincided with the club's decline from the heyday of the mid 1980s. Mr Kenwright's performance as a director of Everton Football Club has seen him supportive of the decision to sell Duncan Ferguson and complicit with the precarious financial position the club found itself in under Peter Johnson. Indeed, it is intriguing as to why Mr Kenwright publicly endorsed the proposed recent move to Kirkby whilst just a few years earlier he sought to undermined his then chairman, Peter Johnson, by covertly financing the activities of the Goodison For Everton [GFE] group who were opposed to Johnson's original Kirkby relocation plans.

Following Peter Johnson's demise, once installed as owner, through the now defunct vehicle known as True Blue Holdings (TBH), Bill Kenwright was the person responsible for overseeing the advance spending of the never-to-materialise NTL media money which was wasted on abysmal signings such as Alex Nyarko, ridiculously recruited on a 5-year contract but with only a 4-year work permit, after the sale of the then club captain Don Hutchison.

The failure to secure the £30M investment from NTL is surprisingly overlooked by most commentators due to the demise of NTL... yet, in a stroke, the advance spending of the money doubled Everton's debt and significantly worsened the already precarious finances of the club. Of course, the implication of this event and the uncertain nature of the finances were easily passed off as being down to the previous chairman, Peter Johnson.

The consequence of the NTL affair paled into insignificance when compared to the mishandling of the Kings Dock opportunity which saw Everton left in an unsuitable and out-dated stadium with (then) record levels of debt and administrators waiting in the wings, just as they do at Anfield as we speak; events which eventually precipitated the controversial sale at a knock-down price of arguably Everton's greatest talent of the modern era. Wayne Rooney.

Whilst other Premier League clubs, with better foresight, continued (indeed, continue) to invest in their infrastructure, the failure to secure funding for the Kings Dock left Everton in a poor position in relation to their ability to generate increased matchday and, due to the proposed 49% ownership structure, non-matchday revenue streams. The claims to the council that our contribution for the Kings Dock stadium was "ring-fenced", when it wasn't, and Bill Kenwright's refusal to allow Paul Gregg to deliver the financial package which would have secured the iconic waterfront stadium for the club, albeit dispensing with Bill Kenwright as owner, left Everton's board appearing amateurish, unprofessional and untrustworthy in the eyes of many, particularly the officers of the local council.

Post Kings Dock, the increasing debt situation was accompanied by a power struggle between Bill Kenwright and the Gregg family, Paul Gregg having a similar number of shares as Bill Kenwright whilst his wife, Anita, had lent Bill Kenwright the money to secure his shares from Peter Johnson through TBH.

CEOs came and went; one, Trevor Birch, an insolvency practitioner who infamously lasted just six weeks before leaving, highlighted the near catastrophic debt situation at the club. The initial solution, in 2002, was to consolidate the debt and take out a then fashionable securitization loan with the Prudential against the stadium and serviced through future ticket revenue over the next 25 years. This didn't remove the level of debt within the club which had by then had reached the disastrous level of 126% of the club's annual turnover! This was only reduced some years later when, following emergency lending from Singer and Friedlander.

Wayne Rooney was sold to save the club.

The Greggs eventually took a back seat after Bill Kenwright produced a bogus investor in the shape of Fortress Sports Fund, their supposed representative, Chris Samuelson (attempting to pathetically pass himself off as an Evertonian), delivered a memorable and embarrassing performance at the 2004 AGM, staged by Kenwright. It goes without saying the promised investment from Fortress, as with NTL, failed to materialise even after Bill Kenwright told all and sundry "the money will be in the bank tomorrow."

After a season where we appeared to be slipping back into our old ways, a former director of the club claims that the board, headed by Bill Kenwright, had concluded a deal to replace Blackburn-bound David Moyes with Celtic's former manager, Martin O'Neill, who is said to have reneged on the deal and a similar one he is alleged to have had with Leeds, at the last minute, and joined Aston Villa.

In October 2006, Paul Gregg purportedly sold his shares to Robert Earl's British Virgin Island registered company BCR Sports, but Paul Gregg has since confirmed he was actually paid for those shares by a certain Sir Phillip Green, a person recently described on Question Time as an individual guilty of tax evasion on an industrial scale. Presumably Anita Gregg was also repaid around this time period. Bill Kenwright claims Philip Green has nothing to do with Everton, that he is merely a friend of his, and therefore a friend of ours!

Another former CEO, Keith Wyness, begged to differ when, following his resignation in 2008, he, through The Times, initially cited concern over interference by Philip Green in business decisions at Everton as the reason he had resigned.

Since 2004, Everton had planned to move to a new state-of-the-art training facility at Finch Farm, Knowsley. This plan came to fruition in the autumn of 2007. The land, having been earlier acquired by Everton from Knowsley Municipal Borough Council (KMBC), was sold to a development company, ROM Capital, from which Everton now rent the purpose-built £8M complex for a figure in excess of £1M a year over a 50-year lease agreement.

The sale of the old training facility at Bellefield was later intended to provide some of the capital required for Destination Kirkby, but an over-ambitious planning application meant that council planning permission was refused and a futile appeal was dismissed by the government. The chairman has since begged the new council to approve the latest, more modest, application as this, he claimed, was meant to provide David Moyes with his summer budget for 2010. At the moment, no approval or sale has been secured for the old Bellefield property, nor did we sell any players of note, so the manager was unable to secure the much needed winger and recognised striker prior to the start of the current season.

Following the demise of the Gregg family connection, Everton embarked on perhaps the darkest hour in its illustrious history, the quest for Destination Kirkby. In the opinion of many the current Board, headed by Bill Kenwright, attempted to sell Everton down the river in return for a £52M addition to their balance sheet. The chairman stood by whilst fans and shareholders were misled with promises of £10M a season in funds for the manager, of a world-class stadium facility as part of the development, served by the best transport infrastructure in the north of England. It was claimed to be the "Deal of the Century", a stadium that would be effectively free as Tesco, according to "director" Robert Earl, were giving Everton an irrevocable cheque for £52M. Indeed Mr Kenwright even contributed to the scaremongering when in December 2007 he told TV viewers that Goodison Park would soon fail to get a safety certificate. That was nearly 3 years ago.

In reality, Destination Kirkby was a plan that was officially described as a con by both Liverpool and Sefton councils, a plan that once again left Everton embarrassed when the Government's planning inspector, through the office of the Secretary of State, heavily criticised Everton's inability to provide evidence of their capacity to deliver the £78M required to build the stadium; criticism also directed at Tesco and Knowsley Council for their initial reluctance to reveal where the alleged £52M cross-subsidy was actually coming from until it was finally admitted, by both of them that it wasn't actual money at all; it turned out to be simply the increase in the land value once planning consent was secured. In other words, just like it was previously described, it was a con, another con perpetrated under Bill Kenwright's chairmanship and documented for all to see. if only they would.

Armed with the knowledge that the Destination Kirkby application effectively died a death on 4 June 2008 when it was "called in" for review by the government, some enlightened shareholders urgently attempted to curtail Everton's bizarre involvement in this charade by securing an EGM later that year. Whilst the majority, said to be approaching 80%, of those shareholders in attendance at that September EGM voted for Everton to end their association with the application the Board wouldn't listen and used the voting power of their 26,000 or so shares, and those of a very small minority of sycophantic followers, to inflict a predictable heavy defeat against the resolution.

Just over 12 months later, the action of those enlightened Evertonians, the ones with only the best interests of the club at heart, was endorsed when on the 26 November 2009 the Secretary of State announced the official rejection of the application.

Everton were left with nothing. The board had wasted four years and untold many millions of pounds on a ridiculous and undeliverable pipe-dream.

Tesco has subsequently submitted an amended planning application and, now unsurprisingly uncontested, will now build something twice the size allowable under local planning regulations. The truth may now just start dawning on the naive as to what Kirkby was all about and they may start to understand that somebody, willingly or obliviously, had been played like a violin.

It's now almost a year since that announcement by the Secretary of State. In that year we've ascertained from the chairman, whilst we were bottom of the league, that four potential owners have approached the club, due diligence procedures had been conducted but, when asked to provide evidence of funding, all the parties disappeared (sound familiar in 2024?). As usual with Everton, no names have been provided.

Supporters of Bill Kenwright immediately offer claims of confidentiality agreements being adhered to but surely if they've disappeared, the discussions have been curtailed and they've wasted our money and our time. just why can't their names be revealed?

Kenwright now tells us that Everton are now in discussions with yet another three unidentified parties but another self-publicist, Keith Harris, the person who one minute isn't, but then is, employed by Everton to seek a buyer, claims nobody is interested in Everton at the moment.

Taking into account all these details, my position is clear: your own position may be different and that is your prerogative, but I firmly believe that to move the club forward there's only one course of action that can be taken, and it doesn't concern the manager playing a more attacking formation or replacing him with anyone who can operate more effectively on a budget that reflects a bottom-of-the-table Premier League club or a mid-table championship outfit.

The other week I was at Goodison late at night. I was leaving with Tom Hughes and, as we walked along the deserted corridors, we were looking at the team pictures of old. I was pointing out the old players in the squad of 38-39; Tom, as expected, was pointing out the newly erected Leitch stand they were standing before! Passing the boardroom, we laughed at an imaginary imprint of Moyes's size ten on the door where he had kicked it in asking for money. Of course, there's no footprint, that's not Moyes style, he keeps his counsel on such matters. The next day, after half-time at Fulham, Moyes ran along the touchline in front of the travelling blues to take his seat. All of us stood and applauded him, as the youngsters were singing his name he saluted the crowd and mouthed ‘thank-you'.

Based on his track record, my opinion of David Moyes, for what it's worth, is that he isn't the best manager in the world and that some of his tactics drive me to distraction, but he's an honest man attempting to do an honest job. Over the course of a season he's most probably the best manager we could get and, considering the meagre resources on offer, he's most probably better than we deserve at the moment. So, on balance, while he's here, I support him fully. When he goes, let's hope we're in the position to attract someone better... but, on reflection, I think that will be a big ask.

After examining the track record of Bill Kenwright, my opinion is he's a phoney, an actor who regularly watched Liverpool as a kid and someone who cynically overstates his Evertonian credentials to aid his perceived (by him) popularity. His relationship with Philip Green appears to be far more than what he describes and this should be of great concern to all Evertonians. In company law, a shadow director is someone who is not a named director but who directs or controls the company; this is what the Companies Act says about the identification of shadow directors:

"The Companies Act defines a shadow director as a person who instructs other directors what to do and those directors follow his instructions. Individuals who act in this way are deemed to have the same liabilities as properly appointed directors.

A shadow director can be any person, but are usually majority shareholders that threaten to replace them if they do not follow their instructions.

A properly appointed director's responsibility is to the company and not to the shareholders. Directors have an obligation to act in the company's best interests."

In my opinion, Bill Kenwright has repeatedly misled the fans and shareholders alike. His performance of delivering what is required by Everton is abysmal. His apparent mythomania means he can't be trusted with Everton's future and that leads me to believe that the solution to our current malaise is staring everyone in the face. Bill Kenwright needs to be removed, both as chairman and from the board, along with several of the other passengers within the club.

I find it amazing when a few diehard believers of the PR bullshit we've had to endure, point across the park and proclaim that mess is somehow a measure of the success of Kenwright's tenure. It's analogous to recommending a garage on the basis that, whilst they never actual fix a car, they never make it worse. Has nobody ever realised why we aren't in even greater debt than we are, those amounts of debt that apologists of the Kenwright circus happily point to at Liverpool and Manchester United'? It's because we have nothing left to borrow against. British banks won't lend any more so we scurry off to a South African bank and borrow against not just current revenue streams but streams we won't even receive for another two years!!

Everton supporters need to start showing some of the passion such as seen across the park and elsewhere. They should be outraged at their own treatment by this board. Sadly, even when it's blatantly obvious they're being shafted, too many of our fans stand there and do nothing. Quite a few of the shaftees, some tapping merrily away here on ToffeeWeb, even applaud the shafter when it is to the detriment of the club to which they supposedly support.

Having read comments and articles posted on this site by characters such as ‘Sur Jo' and Richard Dodd, passing themselves off as Evertonians, I have concluded that such folk and opinions have to be a complete wind-up. With specific regards to Richard Dodd, I'm just pleased that society is now sufficiently enlightened enough to allow patient inmates access to computer skills courses!

Removing Bill Kenwright is more easily said than done. Accusations of lying would probably clear out most of the boardrooms in the country. Accusing him of not fulfilling his fiduciary responsibilities, of not acting in the best interests of the business (a legal requirement under the companies act_ is equally subjective. Kirkby, for instance, would have added value to the company balance sheet and even though the attendance levels were laughingly optimistic (don't forget they had to add six fictitious events to make it look respectable), the board members will simply direct complainants to the figures produced by Deloitte which highlighted an increase of £6M on the contribution currently (2008) received from Goodison.

The question is: how can Bill Kenwright be removed?

If the directors were to undergo an annual assessment on their performance, as they are required to do so, how many would be endorsed as proficient?

Just look at Bill Kenwright's track record, it's absolutely appalling and, as previously stated, many remain convinced that he is responsible for introducing, and being under the command of, a shadow director and has allowed the presence of a nominee director in the shape of Spurs-supporting Robert Earl.

If they could be removed who would you replace them with? Personally, I'm certain you'll all have your opinions on this, the only current member of the board I'd leave in place is Jon Woods, as big an Evertonian as Bill Kenwright proclaims to be but without the bullshit or the baggage, he's been a reluctant director but I'd like to think he's decent enough to put some of the recent wrongs right.

I'd make Robert Elstone Managing Director, under the strict instruction that no contact be made with the former members of the board or Philip Green. The current CEO is a sports business professional and in my experience has treated all with honesty and respect. I'd ask John Suenson-Taylor (aka Lord Grantchester), whose disdain for the Kenwright regime is well known, to join the board and a qualified representative from the Shareholders Association to act on behalf of all minority stakeholders, shareholders and fans, to complete the board. And I'd ask the newly formed collective to work towards the sale of the club to an individual or organisation who, without relying on leveraged buyout plans, has the capital resources and the best interests of the club at the heart of their business plan, not simply someone who is going to hand over the most money for the shares which, in my opinion, is what you'll get with the make-up of the current board who appear to take their instructions from elsewhere.

Bill Kenwright told the shareholders at the 2004 EGM that he did not own shares for profit or involvement. If only for once such words are to be believed, after spending a decade in his fruitless 24/7 search for investment, he should allow other more competent and better qualified individuals to conclude the process that he appears demonstrably unable to complete. The alternative is to simply accept the position we're in, one where we just wait for the next effectively free, "something for nothing" scheme, masquerading in place of a cohesive business plan that would actually promote organic growth.

So, Mike Gaynes, there you have it. You see we all understand that in business some things don't go to plan, but on balance the law of averages states you get some things right. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, but just look at Bill Kenwright's record!

His performance is impossible to accept. Some people, the type who are unable to face up to the reality of the situation and the media, who haven't the time, inclination or fortitude to ignore the difficulties (they would endure) in exposing the Kenwright myth of having a good old, holes in my shoes, ex-Boys Pen Toffees supporter at the helm, prefer to ignore the mass of evidence that tells you Bill Kenwright is a liability to our club and needs to go, as soon as possible.

That's the end of the ever-so-valid 2010 TW post and yet here we still all are, Kenwright dead, his chosen (massively beneficial to him alone) one having been even more deleterious to all our lives as Toffees.

Publicly staged head wobble and massive protest right now maybe?

Yeah, I say so even if it's now decades late!

Being a cheeky fucker, I remember I was eating some chips, but I must have spoken really well because the big security guard who was facing me suddenly started gesticulating for me to get rid of the chips.

How can Everton break into the Top 4 was the question, and my reply was that the only way this would happen is if Bill Kenwright relinquished his hold on the club, and let us grow, once again.

Wayne Rooney, what a talent, but I often wish we never had him. Rooney never saved Everton, his money helped keep Kenwright at the club, so my argument has always been that the greatest talent we have ever produced (I'm being kind because Rooney was just a complete footballer) indirectly helped give us years of unadulterated misery.

The good times look good now, but really they were mostly just a few drunken days away, with mates and family, and a very loyal and passionate fanbase, because soon we will be playing Liverpool (the club that was struggling) and the first thing we are going to hear is 30 fucking years …

Act now, Evertonians, Moshiri has got buyers waiting but he's going to keep trying to get more (impossible) until he runs out of buyers who won't give him what he wants. Although he will have left us a fantastic new ground, he will have also left us in a catastrophic position, and so much worse than our current standing, which is already absolutely dreadful.

As we were in the queuing system in the tunnel heading to Wembley Park, a few Chelsea supporters started goading a number of Evertonians and it was getting quite serious in terms of breaking out into trouble. My wife was concerned, my son nervous, so I wisely or not stepped in. I confronted the group (most of the Chelsea supporters were fine by the way). One of them came up to me and got very close in a threatening way to the point I had to push him away. I told him and the others to just celebrate the fact they had just won the FA Cup. He and they shut up after that.

You sum up Moyes's transfer activity well. It was hit and miss, but isn't it with most managers? I think Drenthe belongs on that list, although he was only on loan. Frustrating player as, like many, he had ability.

Even Howard Kendall Mk 1 didn't get it right first time. I think the great Neville Southall was the only one who stayed from that first batch of signings.

It felt like a voice shouting into the wind only to eventually see Kenwright being shamed for what he really was. A con man of epic face... introduced by the Mozart of Money and being used by offshore tax companies (still are) to make huge profits for themselves.

I am sure Martin Mason would still be telling me that its all only conjecture and cannot be proven... but rich men have made many millions from Everton and Kenwright not only went along with it (Kirkby) but profited substantially.

In Moshiri (Usmanov?) the perfect combination, he found his 24/7 investor who allowed him to keep the trainset and give him a huge payoff. He, like the other directors (and his own board) have been the only winners in this debacle, all profited from Moshiri's purchase and ownership of the club. The only ones.

Time will tell if Friedkin, Textor or whoever, will take us out of this mess, but it is a lost generation of Evertonians, everyone of us and our kids, who are paying the price of Kenwright's actions and Moshiri's dabbling.

Thanks, Don, for posting Colin's summary, it may be water under the bridge, it may be that some no longer want to hear (move on).

It may well be that the only bright spark will be a magnificent stadium (it is bloody brilliant). But there will be too many unforgiven on the way for me and I want the door to be closed on Moshiri, Kenwright, Earl, Green, Kings Dock, 777 Partners, Usmanov and every other chancer with a resounding thud.

The new Everton Stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock is the perfect emblem of Everton Football Club. Proud, stunning and breathtaking. The stadium is built, now we have the place to shine once more.

If I recall, the Kirkby Tesco plan would have straddled the Knowsley - Liverpool boundary. Probably by a corner flag!!!

I suggested at the time Speke. Plenty of land on the site of the old airport, close to the Mersey. Motorway links, Liverpool South Parkway, Hunts Cross and the Airport. And within the city of Liverpool.

But I'm excited about the new stadium now that we are nearly there.

Sean Dyche calls for calm but admits Everton is 'quite an extreme place' with a 'hero, zero, zero, hero' mentality

However, for somebody known for his communication skills, I'm still not sure what Mr Dyche is actually on about — but perhaps that's more down to me and my threshold for anything to do with the current Everton being at a very low ebb.

Clueless, Neanderthal. Burnley were an Unwatchable Disgrace.

That's us Now.